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October 7, 2007

Traffic trouble . . . again

BY JIM DONALDSON
Journal Sports Writer

FOXBORO -- I've been driving to Patriots game here for 29 years now, and never have I so consistently encountered traffic problems as this season.

A huge problem, for those coming up Route 1 from the south, is that there is only one -- that's right, one! -- lane from which access to the lots on the east (stadium) side of the road is allowed. In years past, two lanes have been allowed to turn into those lots. But not this year, as I found out to my dismay this morning.

It already had taken me 30 minutes to poke up the road the short distance from the Dunkin Donuts to the P8 entrance. Because I was not in the far right lane, which actually is the breakdown lane on Route 1, I then had to continue past the stadium and enter at P1 to get to the media lot, which is located at the southeast corner of the stadium.

There is plenty of parking for fans west of Route 1, and, from reports I've heard, it's easy to get out and on the road after the game. Certainly, on the way in, the two left lanes of Route 1, heading north, move much more easily than the irritating backups on the right. So, unless you have to park on the stadium side of Route 1 (as media members do), you're better off staying left, if you're coming from the south, and parking on the west side of the highway.

My colleague, Ms. Manza-Young, our Patriots beat writer, came down Route 1 from the north, and she also encountered serious traffic, even though she was getting to the stadium three hours before kickoff. She'll describe her traffic troubles in her pregame blog.

While the Patriots clearly now how to design pass patterns, they obviously don't have a clue how to manage game-day traffic patterns.

Posted by Jim Donaldson  at 10:52 AM | Permalink